One former ST Marine exec sentenced, two more charged

JULY 2, 2015 — The corrupt practices probe involving former executives of Singapore Technologies Marine rolls on. Yesterday, the shipbuilder's former Group Financial Controller, Patrick Lee, was fined a total of S$210,000 (about US$155,000) after pleading guilty to seven charges relating to falsification of entertainment expenses (see earlier story).

The day also saw two other former ST Marine executives brought to court to face corruption charges.

In a statement, ST Engineering noted that Han Yew Kwang ("Han") and Tan Mong Seng ("Tan") were charged in the State Courts of Singapore.

Han was the Chief Operating Officer of ST Marine from June 2002 to June 2007, before leaving in June 2014 as Executive Vice President (Ship Building). Han was charged with a total of eight charges under section 6(b) read with section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Tan was President (Commercial Business) of ST Marine from January 2000, before leaving in June 2002 as Chief Operating Officer / President (Commercial Business) of ST Marine. Tan was charged with a total of one (1) charge under section 6(b) read with section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to local media reports, the charge against Tan relates to "engaging in a conspiracy to corruptly pay bribes of more than S$40,000 to agents of customers."

The alleged crime was said to have happened between 2004 to 2010 and could bring a penalty of up to five years jail, a fine of up to S$100,000, or both.

For that, Tan faces a maximum of five years in jail, or a fine not exceeding S$100,000, or both.

Han faces eight charges of engaging in a conspiracy to bribe agents of ST marine's customers and allegedly gave out more than S$700,000 from 2004 to 2009.

Han faces a maximum of five years in jail, or a fine of S$100,000, or both, on each charge.

Both men remain free on bail but will reportedly return to court July 9 for a pretrial conference along with five other former ST Marine employees who had previously been charged with various offenses: former ST Marine Presidents See Leong Teck and Chang Cheow Teck; former group financial controllers Ong Tek Liam and Lee Swee Ching; and former senior vice-president Mok Kim Whang.